Top 10 Most In-Demand Jobs in New Brunswick

December 10, 2021
In Demand Jobs

Knowing which jobs are in high demand in New Brunswick is an important step in immigrating to it, as economic immigration programs are the way most immigrants get their permanent residency.

In 2019, the last full year before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, economic immigration programs accounted for 84.3 per cent of all new permanent residents to New Brunswick.

Even during the pandemic, in the first nine months of this year, 82.6 per cent of the 3,190 new permanent residents to the province arrived under economic immigration programs.

COVID-19 and the public health restrictions that came with it, though, greatly affected the province’s economy, resulting in downturns in some sectors and improvement in the performance of others.

In their latest provincial outlook, TD economists Beata Caranci, Derek Burleton, Rishi Sondhi, and Omar Abdelrahman forecast the province will have seen real GDP growth of 3.6 per cent by the end of this year and will then be poised to grow its economy by 2.6 per cent next year.

“The province has recorded four consecutive months of job losses since May (by September this year),” they wrote in their provincial economic outlook.

“Worse, these losses appear to have been broad-based, with employment now below April’s levels in 10 of the 16 industries. In fact, performance would have been even weaker had it not been for the ramp up in public sector hiring during the same time period.”

Despite the downturns in some sectors, consumer confidence in New Brunswick remained strong well into the early summer with positive trends in retail purchases and restaurant spending.

“Higher frequency indicators … also point to continued resilience in consumer engagement,” note the economists. “New Brunswick has recently joined other provinces in announcing a vaccine passport system for non-essential services. This move, alongside a high vaccination rate, should set the stage for a revival in hiring.”

Homebuilding In New Brunswick Expected To Go Strong Through To End Of Year

New Brunswick’s export and manufacturing sales recorded the strongest year-over-year improvement of all the Canadian provinces this year. Demand for fuel is also pushing up the province’s petroleum sales.

“Meanwhile, resale and homebuilding markets are expected to contribute positively to 2021 growth, even after several years of torrid gains … (and) … non-residential investment appears to be showing signs of life, with permits up this year,” write the economists.

As New Brunswick rebuilds its economy for a hopefully post-COVID-19 reality, there is demand for workers in many sectors.

Here are the Top 10 Most In-Demand Jobs in New Brunswick.

1. Nurses (NOC 3012)

Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses provide direct nursing care to patients, deliver health education programs and provide consultative services regarding issues relevant to the practice of nursing.

Indeed listed 268 open positions for nurses in New Brunswick in early December as the demand for nurses was driven up during the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the country.

The occupation comes with a median annual wage of $77,160 based on a 37.5-hour work week with top wage earners in New Brunswick making up to $87,750 in the port city of Saint John.

2. Delivery and Courier Service Drivers (NOC 7514)

These are the people who pick up and deliver various products for dairies, drug stores, newspaper distributors, take-out restaurants, dry cleaners, mobile caterers, courier and messenger service companies.

Most online shoppers know these people these days as those who bring stuff bought on eBay and Amazon to their homes. The online shopping boom and growth of Amazon in Canada led to a hiring boom for these workers this year.

According to Indeed, there were 165 jobs for delivery drivers in New Brunswick in early December.

The job pays a median annual income of $33,735 based on a standard work week in New Brunswick but upper earners can bring in up to $52,494 per year.

3. Physicians – Family (NOC 3112) and Specialists (3111)

In early December, Indeed listed 70 positions for family physicians and specialists in New Brunswick.

General practitioners and family physicians diagnose and treat diseases, physiological disorders and injuries. In New Brunswick, they make a median annual salary of $180,291 but can earn as much as $324,415.

Specialists, a category that includes surgeons, diagnose and treat diseases and physiological or psychiatric disorders and act as consultants to other physicians.

In New Brunswick, a specialist earns a median annual salary of $284,626 but that income can hit $528,100 per year.

4. Financial and Investment Analysts (NOC 1112)

As the people who collect and analyze financial information such as economic forecasts, trading volumes and the movement of capital, financial backgrounds of companies, historical performances and future trends of stocks, bonds and other investment instruments, financial and investment analysts provide expert advice for their employers or clients.

In early December, Indeed listed 47 positions for financial and investment analysts in New Brunswick. Job Bank’s forecast is that there will be a shortfall of 600 of these professionals to fill the available jobs in Canada over the next six years.

In New Brunswick, they make a median annual salary of $61,190 but can earn as much as $88,062 based on a standard, 37.5-hour work week.

5. Administrative Assistants (NOC 1241)

These are the people who take care of administrative duties and prepare, key in, edit and proofread correspondence, invoices, presentations, brochures, publications, reports and related material from machine dictation and handwritten copy.

They also open and distribute incoming mail and other material and co-ordinate the flow of information internally with other departments and organizations and schedule and confirm appointments and meetings for their employers.

In early December, the Indeed job website listed 112 of these jobs in New Brunswick and demand is expected to remain high as businesses reopen and work-from-home arrangements become more commonplace due to COVID-19.

Administrative assistants earn a median annual wage, based on a 37.5-hour work week, of $40,014 in New Brunswick with wages at the upper end of the scale hitting $56,570 per year.

6. Computer Programmers and Interactive Media Developers (NOC 2174)

Travel restrictions and lockdowns forced Canadians to turn to online shopping and Zoom meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic and sent demand for computer programmers soaring.

Employment for this occupation grew by 15 per cent during the first year of the pandemic.

These are the people who write, modify, integrate and test computer code for software applications, data processing applications, operating systems-level software and communications software. Interactive media developers write, modify, integrate and test computer code for Internet and mobile applications, computer-based training software, computer games, film, video and other interactive media.

In New Brunswick, they earn a median annual income of $66,300 based on a 37.5-hour week but can make as much as $112,495 in the capital city of Fredericton.

7. Cooks (NOC 6322)

Restaurateurs in New Brunswick, like many throughout the country, are in dire need of cooks as the industry faces an unprecedented labour shortage.

There were 199 jobs for cooks in New Brunswick in early December, according to Indeed.

It’s not the highest-paying work. The median annual income for a cook in New Brunswick, based on a 37.5-hour work week, is $26,325 and the annual salary tops off at $35,100 in Fredericton. But there are a lot of jobs in the hospitality sector in the province.

8. Retail Sales Associates (NOC 6241)

Every store has retail sales associates, those people who sell, rent or lease a range of technical and non-technical goods and services directly to consumers.

In New Brunswick, Indeed noted there were a whopping 347 jobs for retail sales associates in early December, admittedly the peak of the retail shopping season.

Based on a 37.5-hour week, the median annual income of a retail sales associate in New Brunswick is $24,375 but these workers can make up to $46,429 in the northwestern region of the province.

9. Early Childhood Educators (NOC 4214)

These special people plan, organize and implement programs for children between the ages of infancy and 12 years.

Early childhood educators work in child-care centres, day-care centres, kindergartens, agencies for exceptional children and other settings where early childhood education services are provided.

In New Brunswick, there were 83 job openings on Indeed for early childhood educators in early December.

The median annual income for these jobs is $31,687 based on a 37.5-hour work week but the annual salary can hit as high as $43,543 in northwestern New Brunswick.

10. Civil Engineers (NOC 7271)

These are the professionals who plan, design, develop and manage projects for the construction or repair of buildings, earth structures, powerhouses, roads, airports, railways, rapid transit facilities, bridges, tunnels, canals, dams, ports and coastal installations and systems related to highway and transportation services, water distribution and sanitation.

In early December, Indeed had 43 job openings for civil engineers in New Brunswick. Job Bank gives the occupation’s job prospects its highest rating of “good”.

Civil engineers in New Brunswick have a median annual income of $73,000 but they can earn up to $131,995 in the province’s three major cities, Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton.